20 April 2009

A 'new' weight loss drug, called alli is all over the newspapers at present. It is hyped as a wonder drug.

What is alli? The Myalli website says: "alli™ is the only FDA approved, over-the-counter weight loss product. The alli program includes alli capsules and myalliplan, an individually tailored, online action plan to help you lose weight gradually."

But what alli really is is xenical (previously known as Orlistat). And the harm it did under that name, will continue under the new name.

And it doesn't work — for two reasons:

alli prevents dietary fat from being absorbed into the body. But it isn't dietary fat that puts weight on, only carbs do that. Dietary fat is actually slimming. So, eat a low-carb, high-fat diet and you will save a small fortune — alli is not cheap!

If you want to lose weight the alli way, you still have to eat a low-fat diet and take lots of exercise, which is probably what you are already doing. And, if you're doing that, you don't need alli. If you don't also cut your fat intake, you'll spend a lot of time sitting either on the toilet or in very messy, pants. The fat that alli has stopped you body absorbing has to go somewhere; it leaks out of your nether end!

But those side effects could be the least of your problems if you use this product. You could end up like this Swedish alli (xenical)user.

Until people realise that there is only one way to live their lives at a normal weight and in good health — and that way does not include drugs — they will remain a constant source of income for unscrupulous drug pushers, while living an uncomfortable life.

11 April 2009

Vegetarians, and even more vociferously, vegans, would have us believe that all the other primates (chimpanzees, gorillas, etc) are herbivores and, that, as humans are also primates, we are also herbivores, and should not eat meat.

QED? Well, no. As I wrote in Chapter 13 of Trick and Treat, all the other primates actually eat meat as well as leaves and fruit. And this latest study demonstrates that both male and female chimpanzees are agreed: If you want a good mate to produce healthy offspring, it's the meat-eaters who are the preferred partmers.

The abstract of the study by Cristina M. Gomes and Christophe Boesch of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany, is below. Click on the citation at the bottom for the complete study.

Abstract

Humans and chimpanzees are unusual among primates in that they frequently perform group hunts of mammalian prey and share meat with conspecifics. Especially interesting are cases in which males give meat to unrelated females.

The meat-for-sex hypothesis aims at explaining these cases by proposing that males and females exchange meat for sex, which would result in males increasing their mating success and females increasing their caloric intake without suffering the energetic costs and potential risk of injury related to hunting.

Although chimpanzees have been shown to share meat extensively with females, there has not been much direct evidence in this species to support the meat-for-sex hypothesis. Here we show that female wild chimpanzees copulate more frequently with those males who, over a period of 22 months, share meat with them.

We excluded other alternative hypotheses to exchanging meat for sex, by statistically controlling for rank of the male, age, rank and gregariousness of the female, association patterns of each male-female dyad and meat begging frequency of each female. Although males were more likely to share meat with estrous than anestrous females given their proportional representation in hunting parties, the relationship between mating success and sharing meat remained significant after excluding from the analysis sharing episodes with estrous females. These results strongly suggest that wild chimpanzees exchange meat for sex, and do so on a long-term basis.

Similar studies on humans will determine if the direct nutritional benefits that women receive from hunters in foraging societies could also be driving the relationship between reproductive success and good hunting skills.

08 April 2009

Following my post about the Food Standards Agency demonstration of ignorance about what constitutes a healthy diet, several studies have been published which support my side against them - which is nice!

I must look out for more as I have now attacked both the Food Standards Agency and Unilever's cashing in with their SatFatNav ads on TV where they demonise good, natural, healthy butter as a 'bad' fat and then promote Flora and the other spreads they make which are rich in carcinogenic linoleic acid as 'good' fats.

I have complained to the Advertising Standards Athority about both Unilever and the FSA, as I feel that if I complained directly to the FSA and Unilever, they are not bound to do anything about my complaint. The ASA are. I'll keep you posted.

Trick and Treat: how 'healthy eating is making us ill

About Me

Nutritional author, lecturer and journalist; doctorate in nutritional science; 2002 Sophie Coe Prize winner; currently: a director of the Foundation for Thymic Cancer Research; a founder member of the Fluoride Action Network; a founder member of THINCS –The International Network of Cholesterol Sceptics; and an honorary member of the board of the Weston A Price Foundation.
E-mail: barry@second-opinions.co.uk